Monday profile: Andrew Tyrie - chairman, Treasury Select Committee

NOW arguably the most powerful backbencher in Parliament, Andrew Tyrie is certainly well-placed to extend his track record in the field of posing awkward questions on thorny issues.

The new chairman of the Treasury Select Committee has already vowed to lead the MPs' group into yet another investigation into the retail banking industry, following similar inquiries by the Treasury, the Office of Fair Trading and others. The committee review - due to begin this autumn - is unlikely to delve into territory that hasn't already been charted, but that won't stop Tyrie's efforts to "put the consumer first" when it comes to the operation of individual banking accounts.

Though much of his career has been steeped in finance and economics, Tyrie has been best-known in recent years for his pursuit of information on the UK's involvement in the treatment and interrogation of suspected terrorists by the United States.

In 2005, he set up an all-party parliamentary group to investigate the practice of extraordinary rendition. As chairman of that group - a post he continues to hold - he repeatedly accused UK operatives of facilitating rendition, most notably by allowing the US military to transport suspected terrorists via the British territory of Diego Garcia.

Former foreign secretary Jack Straw had previously likened the accusations to "conspiracy theories", but the allegations were subsequently admitted by the Labour government in 2008. Tyrie, however, continues to press for further disclosure.

In a newspaper article earlier this year, Tyrie called for more details on the behaviour of UK security services, and how they might have misled the parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC).

"The extent to which the ISC appears to have been misled reinforces concerns about its ability to do its job," he said, going on to argue that the committee was not sufficiently independent of the Prime Minister. The chairman of the ISC should be elected by his fellow MPs, Tyrie argued, to bolster the group's credibility.

As it turned out, David Cameron announced the appointment of Sir Malcolm Rifkind as chairman of the ISC in June. However, the chairs of other Commons select committees were for the first time voted on by MPs, giving Tyrie the chance to pip City favourite Michael Fallon to the top post within the Treasury group.

It was a hard-fought contest, and one which Tyrie reportedly refused to enter until assured by colleagues that he would not be humiliated by challenging fellow Conservative Fallon

Background:

• Born and raised in rural Essex, Andrew Guy Tyrie was educated at Felsted School, and Trinity College, Oxford. He earned degrees from the College of Europe and Wolfson College, Cambridge. He also served as a Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford.

• He worked for two years in the 1980s for BP before returning to academia. He later worked as an adviser to chancellors Nigel Lawson and John Major.

• Prior to his selection as Conservative candidate for Chichester in 1997, he was senior economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

• Tyrie has served on the Public Accounts Commission and was shadow minister for economic affairs between November 2003 and May 2005. Tyrie managed the upset with backing from heavyweights in his own party, including former Scottish Secretary Rifkind, but also received strong support from Labour MPs who seemed to believe he would be tougher than his rival when grilling Chancellor George Osborne. In Osborne's first appearance before the Treasury Select Committee last week, Tyrie appeared prepared to fulfil those expectations.

Born the son of a furniture retailer in Rochford, Essex, Tyrie is an economist by training. He earned an MA from Trinity College, Oxford, in 1979, then studied for a postgraduate degree from the College of Europe in Bruges. He then did an MPhil at Wolfson College, Cambridge, before a brief stint working at the head office of oil giant BP in the early 1980s.

His academic background, which includes a stint as a Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford, is further augmented by extensive experience within the Treasury. He spent several years as a full-time advisor to chancellors Nigel Lawson and John Major, with a particular focus on tax reduction and privatisation. And during the five years prior to his selection as Parliamentary candidate for Chichester in 1997, Tyrie was a senior economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

While some question whether the 53-year-old is too much of an insider, Tyrie's supporters say his past experience makes him an ideal Treasury select committee chairman. With the big boots of predecessor Lord John McFall to fill, Tyrie is keen to prove that he and his committee have teeth.

He has in the past revealed his prickly side while serving as a member of the committee, where the angular academic is known for tough and incisive questioning. He has also proved himself to be extremely knowledgeable, and is widely regarded as one of the few people in Parliament capable of going up against Bank of England Governor Mervyn King.

During last year's inquiries into the controversial payments made by Royal Bank of Scotland to ousted chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin, Tyrie dismissed explanations from Lord Myners as to why the City minister failed to get a grasp of the sums involved in Goodwin's departure package.

"You knew it would be politically sensitive, you'd been told it was going to be large, but it didn't occur to you to ask roughly how much?" Tyrie said. "You're really asking us to accept that as the responsible action of a competent minister?"

Tyrie looks set to continue in that uncompromising style set during McFall's eight-year tenure as chairman of the committee.

He went on the record last week in support of breaking up state-controlled banks such as Lloyds and RBS, a position that will put him at odds with UK Financial Investments (UKFI), the organisation in control of the country's investments in the banking sector. While UKFI is charged with maximising the return for taxpayers, Tyrie believes a break-up is the only way to promote competition and improve customer choice.

"I want to put the consumer first… and the only way that can happen is with the break-up of those banks," he said.